Butterless Buzz Brownies

Close your eyes and try to remember the last time you were satisfied by a reduced-fat baked good. Recall the texture: did it feel like dessicated cardboard on your tongue, or was it more like sawdust? Recapture the baked good's flavor. If your memory is failing you, suck on chalk.

The urge to consume massive amounts of chocolate hit me recently, and it hit me hard. This happens frequently; in fact, it happened the previous night and motivated me to strip a supermarket-brand cake of its frosted coat, leaving behind a naked, shivering coal-lump of a chocolate cake. I was still feeling guilty about the episode, and that guilt was an obstacle to present-day indulgence. So too the bantam bar of butter in my refrigerator.

In short, I had no choice but to turn to a reduced-fat brownie recipe from the Joy of Cooking, requiring as it did neither butter nor 500 crunches to prepare and consume mindlessly.

Desserts without butter are, for the most part, gastronomically offensive. The French lord over the domain of desserts because they take baths in butter, even if infrequently. On the other hand, Asian desserts are...well, let's put it this way: it feels wrong to type "Asian desserts." Butter is not a celebrity in most Asian cuisines.

I was nervous that these butterless brownies would not be intense enough to quell my chocolate craving, since the chocolate takes a backseat to three different forms of sugar in this recipe. I borrowed a trick from Ina Garten and added coffee grounds (hence the 'buzz') to the dry ingredients in lieu of cocoa powder. Instead of using vegetable oil as my butter substitute, I used olive oil. There was no olive oil taste, and the coffee grounds added notable depth - if the slightest soft grit - to the dark chocolate flavor of the brownies. To my surprise, these brownies ended up being stick-to-your-teeth fudgy. Note that the coffee flavor is VERY intense right out of the oven. Let the Butterless Buzz brownies cool overnight and you'll be treated to a bold, roasted chocolate flavor in the morning.Butterless Buzz Brownies

3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbl. coffee grounds
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
2 tbl. light corn syrup
1 tbl. brewed coffee
2 tsp. vanilla
2 large egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 x 8-inch pan. Whisk together first four ingredients.


2. In a medium-sized saucepan over very low heat, combine 4 oz. chocolate chips and olive oil. Stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.


3. Stir into chocolate mixture until well combined the brown sugar, sugar, corn syrup, coffee, and vanilla. Add egg whites and stir until the mixture is smooth, not grainy. Fold in remaining chocolate chips.
   


4. Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread to edges. Batter will be sticky. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean if a little fudgy at the bottom. Let cool. Consume and be caffeinated.